Angus Conservative Derek Wann has been cleared by the Standards Commission for the second time in a month of breaching councillor code of conduct rules.
The watchdog says it will not be taking any action following a complaint Mr Wann didn’t declare he was a construction company director in a planning application.
And it said the claim was based on a ‘misunderstanding’ of planning rules by a fellow councillor who lodged the complaint.
Last month, Twitter troll Mr Wann was exonerated at a commission hearing in Forfar of breaking the councillors’ code of conduct with his anonymous Lady Whistledown social media account.
A panel ruled the Arbroath East and Lunan figure was entitled to freedom of expression under human rights legislation.
Issue raised over Brechin housing bid
A ruling on the latest matter has been published by the Standards Commission.
It does not name Mr Wann or the complainant.
But we can reveal it centres around a planning application by Sarkar (Dev) Ltd.
Mr Wann, 50, is a director of the firm.
The houses at Slater Way, Brechin were approved under delegated powers by Angus planning department in February 2021.
Carnoustie Independent councillor Brian Boyd raised the issue with Scotland’s Ethical Standards Commissioner.
He was elected Provost of Angus in the new SNP-led Angus administration after May’s Scottish local government elections.
Mr Boyd claimed Mr Wann should have declared an interest as a director of the company making the planning bid.
But an investigation revealed the directorship was covered by the Arbroath figure on the general register of councillors’ interests.
The commission noted the planning form didn’t have anywhere for an agent to disclose Mr Wann’s status as a councillor.
And it said Mr Wann was not involved, or could not have been involved, in influencing the outcome of the application.
“As such there was no requirement, and no opportunity, for him to have declared any interest in it,” said the Standards Commission.
It added: “The Standards Commission noted that the ‘complaint’ appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of the planning process on the part of the complainer, who was himself a councillor.
There was no requirement, and no opportunity, for him to have declared any interest.
Standards Commission ruling
“The Standards Commission noted that any suggestion that the planning application had been influenced by the respondent would also involve, by implication, a suggestion that the planning officer may not have followed due process.
“The Standards Commission wished to reiterate that there was no evidence of this whatsoever.”
It said it would not be proportionate or in the public interest to hold a hearing into the matter.
The parties’ reaction
Mr Wann said: “Although I am pleased the Standards Commission has found nothing to investigate, it’s a real shame they’ve had to waste valuable time in doing so.
Mr Boyd declined to comment.
Last month, Mr Wann said ‘justice had been served’ after a Standards Commission panel cleared him of breaching the code of conduct by using the anonymous anti-SNP Twitter profile.
The Arbroath East and Lunan member was unmasked by The Courier as being behind the Bridgerton-inspired account.
The commission panel criticised Mr Wann for dragging down the standard of public debate in his posts.
But said they were not “sufficiently offensive, abusive or gratuitous” to warrant sanction when set against the enhanced protection of the European Convention of Human Rights.
The one-time Angus education convener is now the opposition group spokesman on the council.
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